And the winner is ... to be determined

Wednesday

Jun 7, 2017 at 12:01 AM

Pat OrrContributed Content

Finally, today is election day in Apple Valley. No matter what the results of the Measure F ballot proposition fight, life will go on.

In fact, we are not the only San Bernardino County municipal special election. The City of Upland is voting today whether or not to “prohibit marijuana uses and activities” within city limits. That election was voted “most likely to draw the attention of lawsuits” if pot is banned despite being legalized in the entire state. But Upland, like Apple Valley, has always leaned conservative, although, that too is changing thanks to demographics.

If you are a political junkie like me, you will want to go to the Country Registrars website (sbcountyelections.com). All the way down at the bottom of the page you will see an election results link. They should have most of the early absentees counted when the polls close at 8 p.m., so first results will be instructive.

As of Wednesday, 6,305 absentee ballots had been returned by Apple Valley voters which equates to 27.5 percent of the 22,868 mailed out. Low turnout is not unusual in special elections and particularly as this water issue doesn’t affect all local voters, just those who have water service from Liberty Utilities. On the other hand, the enormous amount spent by Liberty on campaign mailings, commercials and other materials may drive more voters to the polls than in normal off-year special elections.

Historically, the most absentee ballots are returned two days after they are received and two days before the actual election (shame on you procrastinators). As of yet, we don’t know if they are coming because they are mad or eager to end this “water war” once and for all. We will have to wait and see until around midnight tonight for the “unofficial” semi-almost final count.

If you need information about where your polling place is or why your absentee ballot didn’t show up, go to the elections website and find the “My Elections Gateway” area where, after you identify yourself, it will give you current data on where you vote, if your absentee ballot was mailed to you, etc.

This website is also a place you can go to change your registration or apply for permanent absentee ballot status. It is good to check your file once in a while just to make sure no one has directed your ballot to another address — a common voter fraud trick.

If for some reason you suspect any “funny business” at your polling place, report it to the poll workers, get their names and make notes of who or what you saw that was suspicious. You will get yelled at if you attempt to take photos inside the polling location, so don’t do that. Later, you can report what you witnessed to the County Registrar, Town Clerk and the Election Integrity Project for follow-up action. There is a lot at stake in this election for some and money can make folks do strange things to help get a win.

Another Clean-up Opportunity

Is it karma or kismet that our next Neighborhood Clean-Up Day follows the election?

What an opportunity to remove all the plastic signs littering the landscape. It’s amazing how slowly the loser in an election takes down their signs. Any political signs mounted on wood or metal stakes are off limits. Those stakes cost money and the campaigners may want them back. But feel free to tackle yard signs, flyers, door hangers, tires, sleeping bags, pan-handlers, whatever is trashing up your neighborhood.

This is for Apple Valley residents only, so don’t invite Uncle Ed from Lucerne Valley to bring his tumbleweeds this time.

An award I’d like to see

From time-to-time, I will take it upon myself to bestow deserving awards on people in the news. My first award goes to the Democratic Members of the Texas State Legislature who were angry at a Republican colleague who, in response to a large crowd of people identifying themselves as illegal aliens, attempted to stop business in the Texas House Chambers and called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (ICE).

This first award, tentatively dubbed the “I am almost too stupid to be a liberal,” goes to this group of people too dense to realize the guy they are mad at just voted to ban Sanctuary Cities in Texas. If one votes against harboring illegals as a policy, don’t you think that same person might also object to protestors loudly and proudly proclaiming their illegal status as a means of disrupting a legislative session?

Is it a surprise these same protestors were considered as “fair game” for ICE? Well, duh.